Hamilton came out and set the early pace this morning in Monaco but as the track rubbered in Raikkonen had claimed the top spot by the end of the session.

The two top teams dominated the top of the time sheets. The session was red-flagged for more than 15 minutes after water seeped out from a loose drain cover on to the track at Ste Devote. As this stage Raikkonen trailed Hamilton by just 0.2s. 

When the session resumed Hamilton immediately headed out to increase that margin but his first attempt had to be aborted as a slow-moving Trulli had brought the yellow flags out. Jarno’s Toyota had hit the barrier coming out of Portier and limped through the tunnel with a broken left-rear suspension. 

Nick Heidfeld was next to park up, on the inside of Casino Square after apparently brushing Armco through the fourth gear Massenet left-hander. 

Hamilton was the faster man through the short first sector with a time of 19.8s compared to Raikkonen’s 20.0s. But Kimi had the edge through the middle sector, outpacing Lewis by 0.4s which ultimately translated into the Finn taking first place on the time sheets. His lap remained the fastest with ten minutes to go and traffic in closing stages meant neither were able to improve on their times. 

Rosberg looked good in his Williams, finishing fifth with the BMW of Kubica just behind him. Alonso finished seventh but was massively off the pace compared to the front runners. 

Ruebens Barrichello did well in the Honda to take eighth, four places ahead of his team mate Jenson Button. David Coulthard did not fare so well, with his Red Bull developing a throttle problem meaning he did not complete a timed lap. Team mate Webber had a better morning with the ninth quickest time and Fisichella proved that his Force India continues to make progress by completing the top ten.     

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